Bear Valley Road

Bear Valley Road by: Reclusive Knight

As the sun came up in Burnside, Kentucky the light shined through the windows in the Collin's House. This is where Frank, Marie, and Gary Collins resided. Frank and Marie were in their late 30's and they were the parent's of Gary who was 11 years old. Just a young boy Gary loved to fish in Teddy Creek. The Creek was less then 100 yards from the Collin's home. Frank and Linda were both on disability for being addicted to alcohol. They would awake and not even care about Gary, where he was, or whether he would get on the bus in the morning for school. This day would start off as a usual day in the Collin's home, but it would end in tragedy!

Gary hated going to school, he would get teased about his alcoholic parents. Frank had several D.U.I.'s, and Marie was known as the town drunk. Her and Frank would meet in the Turtle Bar downtown Burnside. They moved just on the outskirts of town. Their house was a normal bi level home with a two car garage. Marie did not drive though anymore. Her health was becoming a problem and she now had diabetes. Frank drove without his license for many years, it was only this year when he got his driver's license back. They only had one vehicle, Frank smashed Marie's car years before while he was on his way home drunk as usual. The house was filthy both inside and out. The kitchen cabinets empty, and the refrigerator only contained beer and some milk. This would be Gary's breakfast every morning. The only reason why they had milk was because Frank's stomach was getting bad from the years of drinking alcohol, and his stomach lining was shot. The milk in the mornings would help him get rid of the heartburn and set his stomach up for another day of drinking.

There was dirty laundry everywhere and Gary looked down in his bedroom to find the clothes of past days that he had worn to school. The only reason Gary would go to school mainly was to eat there. He would skip out a lot of times after lunch, and the school's calls went unanswered many of times. When Frank did answer the phone and it was the school, that day would end in pain for Gary. Frank use to beat on Gary all the time, drunk and ignorant he didn't care.

The kids in school would see Gary show up every so often with fresh bruises on his face. They knew it was from Gary's parents but no one could ever prove it, or they were afraid to. Frank was known around Burnside for his bad temper as well as his drinking habits. On payday the 1st of every month Frank and Marie would head into town and pick up a few store things. They mainly purchased beer, milk, and a few other items. Frank would never leave home without his stomach medication. You could say things were barely livable around the Collin's home. Gary picked up an old pair of dirty jeans, and an old shirt with wholes in the arm pits. He began to get dressed for school; but would he go this day? Gary walked down stairs and there was no one around yet, so he began to hurry up and then he walked out the front door.

The school bus was just going past Gary's house, he seen this as he walked down the driveway and turned around. He walked back up and around the house to the yard and spotted his old fishing pole. Gary decided he was going to spend the day fishing in the creek behind his yard. Teddy Creek was known as a nice fishing creek.

As he reached the top of the yard and was nearing the creek Gary went over to a blackberry bush. He began to pick them and eat them. He loved the taste of fresh blackberries that only grew on the bush once per year.

"Mmm, I love these things," Gary said chewing the fresh berries.

Then he walked over by the creek bank and lifted up some of the old rocks that he would normally sit on to hunt for worms. Gary would always use fresh worms for bait, and they seemed to work quite well.

Marie encouraged Gary to fish, she said, "Fish are good to eat, and they are good for you as well."

Most of the time Gary could go home around 2 p.m. and they were so drunk they figured he was coming from school. Gary could walk in with fresh fish too and it made no difference. I guess you could say Frank and Marie were pretty far gone.

This day as Gary sat down on his rock and cast his line in Teddy Creek there was someone watching him in the nearby woods!

A man would approach him on this day, and as Gary turned to see him he said, "hello there young man, fish huh."

Gary looked at him in a quiet manner and said, "Yes sir."

The man was short and heavy with a beard. He wore some old denim jeans, and a flannel shirt. He coughed, and then reached in his pocket. The man pulled out a pack of chewing tobacco, and then he opened up the pack and began to fill his mouth with a fresh chew.

Gary was watching him and noticed that the man had no teeth.

"The names Charlie Menger."

Gary stood up and sat down his fishing pole and reached out his hand to Charlie and the two shook hands.

"Nice to meet you sir. I usually never see anyone out here."

Charlie told him that he lived near by, and would walk through the woods daily. He also explained that he never came over this far because of the Collin's house being near.

This day Charlie said he was tracking a fox.

Gary smiled and said, "A fox, wow, I have never seen one of them except on TV!"

Charlie smiled and then spit as it hit the near by water of Teddy Creek. Gary was excited now that a fox was mentioned, and since he had nothing else to do except fish he wanted to go look for it.

Just then Charlie said, "Follow me buddy, I know right about where the fox is."

Gary replied, "By the way, my name is Gary."

Charlie smiled and motioned for Gary to follow him as they entered the near by woods. There was about 14 acres of land between the Collin's home and nearest neighbor. They waked through the woods heading deeper in until the Collin's home could no longer be seen. The woods were thick and dark as they were mainly big tall old pine trees. The ground was covered in pine needles turning it brown.

Just then they heard a noise and looked up to see a squirrel.

"Look, it's a squirrel," Gary said in excitement!

Charlie looked up and motioned for Gary to be quiet as they walked along. Gary was excited now and couldn't wait to see the fox.

Then out of no where Charlie stopped, he turned and spit. Then he grabbed Gary and began to cover his mouth as he threw him on the ground and jumped on his little body. Gary was terrified and tried to scream but Charlie's hand was covering his mouth. The weight of Charlie was too much for Gary to even move around, but he tried to break free.

Charlie started to speak in a quiet voice and said, "Shhh, I am going to help you out. I know your dad and mom beat you up, and I am going to help you put an end to this suffering."

Gary's eyes opened wide, he began to sweat and his heart was beating very fast. Charlie reached in his pocket and pulled out a rag as he began to shove it in Gary's mouth. Gary started to cry, and then he noticed the strange man reaching in his pocket again. Then out came some thin metal cable. Gary closed his eyes as Charlie began to chock him. He tried to scream again but it was no use.

Charlie was enjoying this and again he said to the boy, "Shhh, this will only hurt for a minute and then you will be in a better place."

Gary opened his eyes and started to turn purple. His body then became motionless as he was now unconscious. Charlie stopped and put and cable back in his pocket. He then got up and walked around to a big old pine tree that had a red ribbon tied around it.

This was all planned out by Charlie. Next to the old pine tree was some rope, and a big old concrete block. He made his way over to Gary's lifeless body and began to drag Gary with one hand as he held the rope and concrete block in the other. Charlie was making his way to the near by creek. Teddy creek was shallow, but it had some deep spots in it where the fish liked to hide. Charlie knew these woods well as he was watching the boy now for a couple weeks undetected.

It turned out Charlie cut the grass of the neighboring house belonging to a 82 year old lady named Mrs Kline. The old lady lived alone after her husband passed away years before. She would very rarely leave her home and had the money to hire people to shop for her and take care of her property.

Just as Charlie reached the creek bank he stopped and then began to tie Gary's body up and attach the concrete block to both his legs. Gary was sure to sink as he was just an 11 year old little boy. Charlie finished up and then picked up Gary and tossed his body into Teddy Creek. There were a few air bubbles coming up as his lifeless body sank to the bottom. Charlie paused as he looked on to make sure the body could not be seen from the creek bank. It was gone now and the slow running waters of Teddy Creek began to settle.

Charlie left the creek heading for Mrs Kline's where he had his car parked. As he came out of the woods the sun began to hit his face again and he made his way to his car. He heard a voice then.

"Charlie, you forgot your money." It was Mrs Kline trying to speak up the best she could.

Charlie walked over and smiled as she handed him a twenty dollar bill. She was beginning to lose her mind from the old age and never even questioned Charlie as to where he was at after he finished mowing the lawn. He made his way over to his car once again and hopped in and began to go down the driveway. As he turned towards downtown Burnside he began to travel up Bear Valley Road. This was the road on the out skirts of Burnside that the Collin's lived on, as well as Mrs Kline. The road was always foggy at night from the near by creek. There were lots of pine trees on both sides and the woods were very thick.

Bear Valley Road only had one way in and one way out, as it eventually came to a dead end. Some of the town's citizens called it; Dead End Road. The actual name of the road on the county map was Bear Valley Road, and this was due to the wildlife that lived in the woods.

Charlie headed into town as he came to a red light. His mind began to wonder now. Would anyone find the boy? If they did would the police question me?

Then a horn sounded from behind, the light was green and Charlie was sitting there deep in thought. He motioned out the window as he turned onto Route 27 heading home.

The sun was now beginning to set as Frank and Marie were finishing up a 30 pack of beer. Both were now very intoxicated and Frank began to slur out his words.

"Where is that damn kid at? I need to see him about the filth in his bedroom!"

Marie was not a good house keeper and Frank just looked for any reason to beat up on Gary. The boy was now at the bottom of Teddy Creek, but one would have to wonder if he was better off.

Was Charlie right, did he save Gary from Frank and Marie? The other family members of the Collin's would never stop by because they all knew of Frank and Marie's drinking habits. They also knew the condition of the home, but around Burnside you didn't rat out your own family members to Social Services. You could say everyone around Burnside kind of minded their own business about that.

Frank then said to Marie, "Come on, lets go! If we don't have anything to eat tonight we need to get more beer."

Marie reminded Frank of all the previous D.U.I.'s he had.

Frank got upset and stormed out of the house anyway and headed for the family car. Marie knew it would take at least a half hour to get into downtown Burnside and get beer, and then another half hour to get home because of the fog that was a nightly occurrence on Bear Valley Road. So Marie hurried behind him and they both jumped in the car.

When the car started up the windshield wipers were going and the radio was cranked, pumping out the old song Slow Ride. Frank pulled out and began to travel at a high rate of speed towards the bottom of the driveway. He didn't even stop at the bottom because there was hardly ever anything coming due to the fact that Bear Valley Road came to a dead end. They spun out on the loose stones at the bottom of the driveway as Frank yanked the wheel and turned quickly.

The fog was heavy and Marie began to yell at Frank to slow down. Teddy Creek created the thick fog on the road, and there were lots of dead animals on the sides of the road. The older teenagers would come out Bear Valley Road and go to the end where there was a pull off, and a path leading to a near by clearance. This was a popular spot for all the underage kids to drink beer and liquor. They would also use marijuana out at the end of Bear Valley Road as well.

Frank always said that this was why he got so many D.U.I.'s. He figured because of the underage teenagers out there that police would patrol the road more often. As Frank drove on Marie suddenly put her hands up on the dashboard!

"Look out Frank, holy shit!"

Then Boom, Smash, and a loud Thud! The two ran directly into a big pine tree as their car left the road at a high rate of speed. The smoke began to pour out from under the hood. There were fluids leaking all over the ground, and Marie came to. She was bleeding very badly with all kinds of internal injuries.

As she looked up she seen what appeared to her as Gary. He was looking at her smiling, and then his image turned and ran into the near by woods.

Marie began to cry and scream, "Frank.... Frank, I ....."

Just then the blood began to pour out of Marie's mouth. This prevented her from speaking, as her breathing started to fail she looked over at a motionless Frank.

This would end up being Frank's last drunken ride up Bear Valley Road. He was dead, his head was through the windshield. The glass cut his throat, and he had severe head trauma from the car striking the pine tree.

The fog was thick and the road soon became quiet. There was no one around that night, the car began to smoke more and more as it slowly ignited. Then the night sky would turn colors as the light from the car fire grew larger. The car was fully engulfed in flames and it crackled and popped as the seats began to melt and the bodies of Frank and Marie began to burn.

The following morning Burnside Police were on the scene. They were on routine patrol when they found the burned out car still smoking in the morning fog along Bear Vally Road. There were various emergency organizations on the scene as well. The police began to speak.

"What an accident, looks like Frank Collin's and his Wife Marie's car; there are two bodies inside the car as well."

The coroner was also there and he began to go over the accident scene. Frank and Marie were burned so bad they had to use dental records to identify them. The scene was cleaned up and soon things once again became quiet on the road.

The restaurant in town was humming with the chatter of the town's folk talking about the accident. Everyone knew that one day Frank was going to kill himself in an accident, or himself and Marie. As Tabby's Diner began to fill up Charlie was coming through the door. He went up to the bar where most of the people sat that were only drinking coffee and reading the paper. There were booths near by where a lot of others would sit to eat breakfast.

Charlie just sat there as the waitress approached him with the normal cup of coffee, black of course. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a dollar.

"Keep the change kid."

This was the way he always spoke to the young waitress named Kathy Davids. She just graduated high school and there were not many jobs around Burnside so she took what she could get. Charlie liked her, the reason of course was because she was a very beautiful young lady. He sat there and listened on as he then learned about Gary's parents being in the accident.

This made Charlie think, his thoughts began to flow as he chugged his coffee. He then got up and walked out and got into his car, and he sat there thinking about Gary's body. Would anyone wonder now if Frank or Marie killed him? They were no longer around now to speak their peace. This made Charile relax, he felt good about this.

The old green car started up as Charlie left Tabby's and headed for Mrs Kline's place. He just had to get on Bear Valley Road and see the accident scene for himself.

As he drove down the road it was a dreary day. The road was kind of dark and cool, the fog had lifted as it normally did in the late morning and afternoon. While Charlie was driving he passed the accident scene and noticed the old pine tree. The bark was missing in the front and the tree was black from the burning car.

This Charlie thought would help him, now they could be to blame for Gary's murder if he was ever found. Then Charlie approached Mrs Kline's and turned up her driveway, he stopped at the mailbox and got out. He would usually get her mail and take it up to the house. He reached in and pulled out his chew and grabbed the mail. Then he threw it on the passengers side seat and put a chew in. He looked around and all was quiet.

Just as he went to get in his car he heard a vehicle coming up the road. He could hear music playing loudly, and then a car flew past with three teenagers heading up Bear Valley Road. Charlie smiled and figured they were going up to the dead end to party. He got in and went up to Mrs Kline's house.

"Hello Charlie, how is your day," Mrs Kline smiled.

Charlie began to explain to Mrs Kline about her neighbors down the road.

Mrs Kline replied, "Oh my, poor folks, what a way to die."

Charlie handed her the mail and then turned and made his way up to the shed. The grass was just mowed, but Charlie would often return the next day if it wasn't raining to do the weed whacking. He put in his ear plugs, and then put on his old sun glasses as he began to start the weed whacker.

A couple of hours later Mrs Kline walked out on her porch and had some iced tea for Charlie. He spotted her and stopped as he walked down to get the cold treat.

"Thanks Mrs Kline, it looks like rain today, I want to hurry up and get this done so I don't get washed out."

She smiled as Charlie drank the tea right down. He handed her back the glass and smiled and then walked back up the yard to finish up. Then something caught his eye, he seen a white flash in the near by woods! He stopped and took off his glasses and looked over again.

Then he would not believe his eyes, it appeared to be Gary! The appearance of Gary was cloudy, and surrounded by light. This gave Charlie the creeps as the figure then disappeared. Just after that sirens could be heard coming up Bear Valley Road.

Charlie thought to himself, "No way are they coming for me, what the hell did I just see!"

Then a firetruck went zooming past Mrs Kline's house. It was headed towards the dead end where the teenagers were last seen traveling.

Charlie was filled with emotions, he was deep in thought, "Was there another accident, was the firetruck going to the Collin's house."

More sirens could be heard coming up the road as a police cruiser flew by, followed by an ambulance. Charlie knew then that someone must be hurt, he could not leave though and go up the road. He didn't want to draw any suspicions towards himself as he had murdered Gary the day before. Then Gary's parents were killed that night, and not found until the early morning.

So Charlie put away the weed whacker and headed down to Mrs Kline's and banged on her door.

"Come on in Charile, I am watching my favorite show on TV," she blurted out.

He went in and she gave him some more money for the day. Charlie was an old retired meat packer, and he had a bum leg so he was on disability. The extra money he made from Mrs Kline was unreported and it helped Charlie out.

He left for home and thought about whatever happened down there being in the morning paper, as well as Gary's parents accident. They didn't find Frank and Marie until that morning, so it didn't make the paper. The whole town already knew, but Charlie just figured he would go home.

The rest of that day would go without incident on Bear Valley Road.

The following day Tabby's was zipping with customers. The paper machine outside of Tabby's as Charlie pulled up was empty, all the papers were sold out! When Charlie entered the diner he walked up and found only one of two empty seats at the bar. He sat down and glanced over a man's newspaper near by.

The headline read; ANOTHER DEADLY ACCIDENT ON BEAR VALLEY ROAD. 5 Dead in two days.

It turned out the three teenagers that were heading out to the end of the road that day to party never made it! They were all dead now, burned up, just Frank and Marie.

Was this the appearance of Gary again that caused the accident? No one would know, there were no witnesses. Both of the accidents were deadly, both on Bear Valley Road, and both would end in fire!

Charlie was shocked, and he began to think of the image he seen out at Mrs Kline's. He planned on going out there again to paint that day, but now he was having second thoughts. Charlie was a murderer, a cold blooded killer and he was afraid! The police report in the paper said that the accidents were due to careless driving in both cases. They were blaming both of the accidents on speed, and said in the paper the vehicles were traveling too fast for the road conditions. Charlie sat at Tabby's and drank 4 cups of coffee before he got up. With the caffeine buzz going now, Charlie left for Mrs Kline's.

There was also an article in the Burnside Paper that morning that read; 11 YEAR OLD BOY MISSING? Parents killed in accident on Bear Valley Road.

Charlie didn't see this article, it was on the front page but near the bottom. So now the police had their hands full in the small town of Burnside. They had 5 dead, 1 missing, and no explanations besides blaming everything on speed. The paper didn't say it, but the police were blaming the missing boy on the fact that both his parents were killed. They figured he ran away, they did put out an A.P.B. on him. All the local police and sheriff's department were keeping an eye out for any young looking boys walking around alone.

Charlie was already on his way to Mrs Kline's house. He arrived there without incident, and even though he had the urge to go up past the Collin's house to see where the second accident was he didn't. He pulled up the drive and got out as usual and handed Mrs Kline her mail and didn't say a word.

"Thanks Charlie," Mrs Kline muttered out in confusion.

He walked up to the shed and paused as he was about to get out some paint to use on the back of Mrs Kline's house. Charlie heard a strange cry coming from the woods near by, and it made the hair on his arms stand up. The air grew cold, and the sun hid behind the clouds making it hard to see in the dense pine forest.

This upset Charlie and he dropped the paint and headed towards Teddy Creek. He wanted to see with his own eyes the submerged body of Gary Collin's! He began to travel through the woods and soon found the red ribbon tied around the pine tree where he kept the rope and concrete block he used to seal Gary's fate. He then approached the creek and looked in right about where he deposited Gary's lifeless body. He didn't see anything, and then he started to nervously look for a long sturdy branch. He found one and soon made his way to the creek bank, and then he began to poke it in the water to see if he could feel anything.

About this time Charlie slipped, and into Teddy Creek he went! He began to splash and kick as he made his way back to the creek bank and climbed out. Then he heard a loud crack, this was followed by a huge thud! Charlie turned around and seen a near by hundred year old pine tree had struck the ground. His heart rate picked up as his breathing got heavy, and then the sweat started to form on his forehead. Charlie then turned back towards the creek and what he seen next would send him running through the woods!

Gary was standing on the water of Teddy Creek. Charlie could not believe his eyes! He closed them and then opened them back up and seen Gary's image walking on the water towards him.

He turned and began to run, as he ran he tripped over a broken branch and fell on the ground. A very high pitched laugh could be heard, he looked back where he last seen Gary walking on the water and he was gone!

Then the sky grew dark, the wind began to blow as the tree branches swayed. Some of the old pine branches began to break off from the wind. Charlie began to run, but he was running away from his car and heading towards the Collin house. He was soon out in the open as he looked in the distance and spotted the house. Charlie knew now he was in trouble, the branches began to fall and the wind was howling through the thick pine forest. Charlie was afraid to look back as he ran across the lawn of Gary's house. He heard the high pitched laughing again, and he turned to see Gary running after him!

Charlie made his way to the house as he tried the back door it was locked. He then ran around the front and the door was open, he entered the house and scanned the room in search of a phone. Just then the front door slammed closed and locked. The curtains began to close, as the house started to grow dark inside. Charlie found a phone in the living room but when he picked it up the line was dead. He looked down the short hall into the kitchen and seen Gary standing there inside the house laughing! The laugh was a crazy hysterical type, and it was very loud.

Charlie covered his ears and he could still hear it, just then the curtains began to blow around. Gary was breathing out air, the air soon turned to fire! The house began to catch fire, the curtains were the first to catch, and then the furniture. Charlie was frozen in fear, he fell to his knees and began to beg for his life.

"Please, I was only trying to help you Gary. Don't kill me this way, I don't want to burn up!"

The whole house then began to fill up with flames as Charlie's body caught on fire. He started screaming for his life as he burned. The last thing he seen before he was over come by shock was Gary's image, standing in the flames but not burning. He had a smile on his face, and in his arms was a fox.

The house was engulfed in flames, the windows began to smash out as the siding melted. The smoke was pouring into the sky just outside of Burnside on Bear Valley Road.

Up the road Mrs Kline came outside to check on Charlie's painting. She couldn't find him, nor did she have the means to go searching for him. Just then she smelled a strong odor.

She thought to herself, "That is wood burning, oh my the woods are on fire!"

Mrs Kline couldn't see anything, but the smell was very strong. Then she paused and thought about the Collin's home. She entered her home and called 911 to report a strong odor of wood burning out along Bear Valley Road.

The dispatcher said, "Oh no, not another one out there!"

He quickly dispatched the police department to check things out. On their way out the road they smelled it as well, and they slowly drove past Mrs Kline's and waved at her. She noted they were there fast and she hoped they would find out what was burning.

As they approached the driveway of Gary Collin's house they immediately spotted the house engulfed in flames. The two officers radioed for the fire department.

"Get out here to the Collin residence on Bear Valley Road, the house is on fire and fully involved!"

Officer Bill McBride turned and seen his partner Richard Butler heading up the driveway of the Collin residence to check around outside and make sure no one was around the house. Then his partner disappeared into the heavy black smoke surrounding the home. What Officer McBride would see next would make him question everything that happened on Bear Valley Road over the last couple days.

He looked at the bottom of the driveway near the Collin's family mailbox and seen what appeared to be a little boy standing there watching the house burn. The Officer was puzzled as he slowly walked towards the dim image of the little boy. He approached and the little boy turned and waved at him.

"My god, I know that little boy, that is Gary Collin's!"

Just then as quickly as he blinked, Gary was gone.

Sirens could be heard coming and he turned to see the Burnside Fire Department coming up Bear Valley Road. He looked back quick towards the mailbox and wondered if he was just seeing things.

His partner Richard Butler came out of the smoke coughing and ran towards the road.

"No one around up there, and it looks like the house is all closed up."

Bill didn't say a word as the fire truck pulled up. The firemen began to spread out their lines as the house burned. Just as the water started to spray, the roof of the house collapsed. Sending flames high in the air, and then with the Lord on their side or someone else it began to rain.

The months following the fire many of the teenage kids traveled out Bear Valley Road. There were reported sightings of a little boy walking on the side of the road. The teenagers never seen this with their own eyes, and the talk soon became known as a crazy rumor.

Officer Bill McBride never said a word. As a matter of fact not long after that year would come to an end, Officer McBride would resign. When asked why? He said that he wanted to spend more time with his son fishing.

THE END